Chaffinch in the Crab Apples
by Chicklepea
Summary: Pansy Parkinson is Daphne Greengrass’s best friend. Daphne Greengrass is dating Draco Malfoy. A tale of betrayal, love and loss of friendship.


_Disclaimer: I own none of the characters. They all belong to JK Rowling, as does everything else. _

The delicate melody of an olive brown chaffinch tangled with the warbling of a pump bellied skylark as the two song birds playfully darted through the branches of a blossoming crab apple tree. The warm spring breeze rustled the baby pink flowers, sending hundreds of dainty heart shaped petals spiraling in through an open window; nestling themselves into the ebony tresses of a young enchantress.

Sparking drops of sorrow fell as though twin waterfalls from sapphire eyes, and choked sobs echoed from between two delicate pink lips. Her black cotton robes flowed out around her shaking form as she wept into a white satin handkerchief. Scraps of a torn letter lay in tatters before her, scattered between the blossoms from the crab-apple tree.

"Pansy?" A deep voice enquired with a whisper, "Pansy, my love, I've looked everywhere for you."

A young man stood by the door; his light blonde hair hung in wisps around his pointed features and his brow creased into a frown. In two long strides he made it to his bed, and to the weeping girl in the centre. His strong arms reached out and pulled her feminine form into his arms, her tear stained face buried itself into the crook of his neck.

"Shhh now my love," he murmured, placing a kiss upon her head, "Tell me what happened."

Reluctantly she took her face from his shoulder and reached over to the remains of the letter that lay there. He let her move in his embrace so that her back lay upon one of his arms and her head rested on his chest. She took the sections and arranged them on sheets until the random words and phrases became sentences. Then slowly the young enchantress began to read,

"To whom was once my sister in all but blood,

If a hundred years passed and we were close to death, I would still not wish nor want to see you again. Each time you said those words of apology they lost a little of their meaning, and each time I wondered if you truly knew what you were apologizing for. Your mind does not control what your body does, and because of that I can not be your friend. You took the one thing from me that I truly cared for and that I thought cared for me in return, and you did so without an ounce of guilt or regret. And it is because of this that I ask you to please stay away from me! Please, just leave me alone and forget that I ever existed. It is what I have done to you.

Daphne Greengrass."

Draco rested his chin upon her head and gazed out of the window. A solitary tear began to trail its way down his pale cheek. No matter how hard he tried, he knew that this was one thing he had broken that his father couldn't fix.

It was December fifth, 1996, and the first snow had just fallen on Hogwarts, covering every blade of grass, every leaf of every evergreen, every branch of every tree and every tile on every roof in a sparking white carpet of shimmering crystals. The students of Hogwarts were already heading out to the winter wonderland: each of them wrapped up in knitted jumpers and crocheted scarves, their brightly coloured bob hats upon their heads, and their trousers tucked into two pairs of socks with a pair of red Wellingtons over the top. The laughter and shouts of delighted children rang out through the grounds, effortlessly waking Draco Malfoy from his slumber.

He opened his eyes slowly, blinking away the last remains of sleep before pushing the silken covers of his bed back exposing his skin to the harsh morning air.

"Draco…." the soft groan caught his attention and his lips twitched at the corners at the pouting girl beside him.

"Sorry angel," he murmured, leaning close to place a light kiss upon her parted lips, "I forgot you stayed."

"Am I really that forgettable?" she laughed, leaning up on her elbows to poke her tongue out at him playfully. Draco's eyes darkened as they ran over her form, he leant forward and twirled one of her golden curls around his finger before shaking his head in amusement and placing another light kiss upon her lips.

"Never," he whispered, "that was probably one of the most memorable nights of my life. Now get dressed before I can't help but re-enact it. "

Daphne's cherub-like face spit into a playful grin as she pulled his face towards her for another kiss, "I love you," she said.

Draco opened his mouth to reply, but the words wouldn't form. Daphne rolled her large blue eyes at him and giggled lightly before darting out from under the covers and gathering one of his cloaks from his wardrobe.

"Meet Pansy and me in Hogsmead today at around one; we'll be in the Three Broomsticks by the fire." she said, and without waiting for an answer left her boyfriend lying shell shocked in his bed.

A few hours passed and Draco was strolling through Hogsmead, a bouquet of roses in his hand, enjoying the crunching sound his boots made as they pressed the tiny flakes of snow together. He rubbed his hands together and glanced around the bustling little town, smirking at a particularly small third year who had gotten herself stuck in a snowdrift.

"Help! Please? Someone!" she shouted, her breath coming out in little puffs.

Draco waved his glove clad hand at her absently as he passed, and tipped an imaginary hat.

"Oi Malfoy!" A gruff voice shouted from across the street.

Draco turned and saw his two childhood friends wrapped up all snug in their winter wear. "I'm meeting Daphne in the Three Broomsticks," he called back. The two boys nodded their heads, and began to stroll across the street to where he was stood,

"We'll come with you, there's only so many times you can push a kid into a snowdrift before it gets boring," Vincent said, a hint of boredom in his voice.

Draco chuckled and the three of them headed towards a small old fashioned pub at the far end of the village. The Three Broomsticks looked more like an old farm cottage than a pub, which Draco presumed that a good century ago, was its original use.

A gust of warm air hit him in the face as he pulled on the cast iron handle of the door. The pub was absolutely packed with customers, most of them stood shoulder to shoulder sloshing butterbeer over their friends' robes each time another customer jostled them on the way past. Draco crinkled his brow into a frown as he elbowed his way through, cursing those who dared spill anything on his exquisite clothing, and barley refraining from hexing those who actually touched his precious hair.

"Over here!" A feminine voice shouted. Draco rolled his eyes, cursing the stupidity of the female race. He clearly couldn't see through the crowd, and through the sound of joyful chatter he was lucky to hear her in the first place.

A flash of dark hair caught his eye and he paused in recognition, then two sapphire eyes turned on his own, sparking in mirth at the scowl marring his handsome features. "Come on Draco!" The same voice said again and Draco was startled to realize that it was Pansy who was speaking, and not his girlfriend as he first presumed it to be.

Draco rushed over to the girls and collapsed into the empty seat besides Daphne, wrapping his free arm around her shoulders and drawing her to his side. He placed her flowers in her lap and stole a kiss from her lips. Greg and Vincent fell onto the couch either side of Pansy, and placed six bottles of butterbeer onto the table.

Daphne eyed the bottles for a moment, before reaching out a pale hand and lifting one up for inspection. "Who did you steal those off?" Pansy asked, sounding exasperated. Daphne turned her gaze over to Pansy and laughed lightly,

"Who says they were stolen?"

"This one has lipstick around the rim," Pansy said, "and this one is half empty."

Draco chuckled and leaned forward over to the table to grin roguishly at the dark haired girl, "Maybe Goyle drank some of his along the way." he said

Pansy's dark red lips slowly formed a smirk and she too leant over the table and placed a bottle of butterbeer in front of him. "So this one would be yours then?" she asked sweetly.

Draco felt as smile creep onto his face as he watched Pansy try to suppress her giggles. He looked down at the lipstick mark on the bottle before him and raised his eyes once more to meet Pansy's dancing ones.

"Maybe I like the way it feels," he retorted.

Pansy scrunched her nose up and placed a dainty hand over her mouth to smother the delicious giggles she couldn't hold in any longer.

"I'm not drinking contaminated butterbeer Draco" Daphne complained, tugging at the arm of his sleeve. Draco grimaced and turned to his girlfriend who suddenly looked plain. "And don't look at me like that! Your worth over a million galleons! You can afford to buy your girlfriend a butterbeer."

"Fine," Draco muttered angrily, "Come on you two."

Greg and Vincent groaned and stood up reluctantly to follow Draco to the bar.

Once the guys were out of sight, Pansy and Daphne bust out into giggles. "He's unbelievable," Daphne sighed once her laughter subsided, "and do you know what? I think I'm falling in love with him!"

Pansy felt a lurch in his stomach and her face slowly began to turn ashen. She stared into the eyes of her best friend and forced a smile to form on her trembling lips.

"That's... wonderful," she said.

"Here you go angel," Draco announced as he returned to his seat and handed Daphne a fresh bottle of butterbeer. Pansy watched, feeling her insides churn at the sight. Daphne leant forwards and placed a lingering kiss upon Draco's lips before taking a sip of the warm sweet liquid.

"Excuse me,"

Pansy breathed a sigh of relief as Draco turned away from Daphne to where a crimson haired girl was glaring at them. She made a mental note to actually help the Weasley girl next time her bag split.

"Those were our butterbeers!" Ginny Weasley snapped, throwing two freckled hands onto her hips. Her hazel eyes narrowed as she glared at the Slytherins.

"Were they?" Draco asked, faking confusion. Ginny twisted her lip for a moment as she surveyed the Slytherins before she burst into a cute playful smile and swiped the one Draco was about to take a sip from.

"Thank you," she said before skipping off back to her table.

"Ok," Daphne frowned, "That was… weird?"

Pansy bit her lip to prevent herself from giggling as Draco clearly began to pout, though to the untrained eye it would appear that he was glowering fiercely, but Pansy knew him to be pouting like a baby.

"Here you go big baby," she laughed, handing him another bottle from the table.

Draco took the bottle and sent her a heated glare from over the lipstick stained rim. Agonizingly slowly, he raised himself off his chair and prowled around the table. Greg jumped out of his seat as Draco arrived, and Draco calmly took his place, ignoring the slightly obese boy now hanging around nervously behind him. He turned his mercury eyes onto hers, his predatory gaze causing a shiver to run up her spine. Pansy gulped and tried to back away slightly, scared of the effect her best friend's boyfriend was having on her. Long pale fingers reached out towards her and Pansy began to shakes her head,

"Please, no Draco! No no no no no… Draco!"

His fingers grasped her sides and wiggled around sending Pansy squirmed under him.

"Draco… please…. ArG!" she laughed, "let go!"

Draco chuckled as Pansy pushed his hands with her own, and watched as tears rolled down her face as she laughed.

When he finally stopped, she lay sprawled out half over Vincent's lap breathing heavily, her hair thrown out into a mess on her head. Draco smirked over her, trying to ignore how wonderful she looked at that moment. Slowly he leant back up and strolled over to where Daphne was laughing at her best friend's indignant look. He stared at his girlfriend for a moment before kissing her soundly,

"You really need some different friends angel… that one's hair is simply atrocious,"

Pansy lifted her hands to the tangles and eased them out, all the while glaring at the blonde whilst trying to forget how her heart fluttered every time he met her gaze.

The five of them left the Three Broomsticks and headed back up to Hogwarts together. Daphne giggled as Draco traced small patterns on her waist as they walked, and gazed up at him with love-filled eyes. Pansy turned her face away and gazed out at the different shops that they passed. Her mind felt so jumbled. The way Draco had looked at her made her feel so warm, so beautiful, she got the jitters every time he came too near her.

"Pansy, I'm sleeping over in Draco's dorm again tonight, cover for me will you?"

Pansy turned and stared into the bright blue eyes of the girl she had known since she was two years old, and a green sheen began to drift over her vision.

"Sure Daphne!" she said, honey-like sweetness dripping from her words.

"Thanks Pansy, I owe you a million!" Daphne laughed before turning back to her boyfriend for another tender kiss.

Later that evening left Pansy alone in her rooms. Well, not entirely alone: three other girls were sleeping soundly in their beds, but their soft breathing and occasional muttering held little companionship for her. One bed lay empty, and Pansy knew that that bed wouldn't be visited tonight. Her stomach felt sick at the thought. The unslept in sheets taunted her, sending images to her mind of what the owner of that bed was doing right that second.

Pansy stood up, grabbed a long black cloak from her trunk, and threw it around her form, lifting the hood up to cover her face from view. This way, if she was spotted by a teacher, the teacher wouldn't know who to punish.

She swept through the halls as silently as she could, her slippers muffling any sound her feet might have made. The darkened passages didn't really scare her, but her heart still hammered in her chest at the prospect of being caught out of bed. Professor Snape was a real stickler about that rule. He deemed it inappropriate for them to be out of bed and wandering the halls during a time when they could be sleeping and resting their minds in order to gain their house the recognition it needed. Or something like that. Pansy shook her head and smothered a giggle as the memory of her head of house's rant came back to her.

"Well well well.."

Pansy jumped and swung around to face the darkened figure at the end of the hall. His soft velvety drawl caused goosebumps to prickle on her neck. She gulped and closed her eyes. She would have preferred Snape to him at this very second.

"Miss Parkinson," the voice drawled. Sapphire eyes opened to stare into his mercury ones, and for a moment she marvelled at how silently he had moved, but that was pushed aside when the closeness of him began to sink into her consciousness.

"Where's Daphne?" Pansy asked, wincing at the tremor her voice held. Two hands gently pushed her hood down from her face, letting her ebony curls free so that they tumbled down over her shoulder.

"Sleeping." He murmured, "I couldn't, so I came to get some supper. Would you care to join me?"

She nodded her head and allowed Draco to take hold of her hand. It was a strange feeling, like she was walking in the clouds and yet unable to see before her, only Draco was her guide, so she didn't care. She didn't care about anything when he was near her.

Draco led her to the kitchens, through the portrait of the fruit bowl, and sat them down by the fire place. Pansy shifted uncomfortably as Draco ordered a pot of tea with a couple of shortcake biscuits from a particularly fat house elf. She smiled at the choice, it was her favourite remedy when she couldn't sleep, and she was touched that he remembered.

He poured her some tea and stirred in just the right amount of milk with a tea spoon of sugar. She glanced across the table at him as he poured his own, and held back a laugh as he put three sugars into his own. "You'll rot your teeth," she said playfully, like she did every time they sat down to tea.

"And you'll fix then right back up," Draco retorted as he always had. Pansy, as a child, had wanted to be a healer and Draco had never let her forget it. He thought she'd make a good healer, Pansy on the other hand just figured he liked the way she looked in the uniform.

"And what if I refuse?" Pansy asked this time, her eyes sparking with mischief. Draco gave his best injured owl pout. Pansy rolled her eyes and laughed lightly; he should know that although that look sent the butterflies in her stomach into a frenzy, it still wouldn't make her cave in an argument. Draco sighed and placed his cup back on to his saucer, then leant back lazily.

"I'll just have to persuade you," he said,

"And how might you do that? With no teeth to ask?"

Draco stood from his seat and tapped his chin with his forefinger as though in deep thought, and then ever so slowly he began to circle the table. Pansy watched him, amusement dancing in her eyes; she loved this game. It was times like these that her infatuation with him faded away and they were back to being children playing house in the drawing room.

He stopped just behind her chair, and with a wicked smile reached around and plucked her biscuit from out of her hand. "I'll hold your precious biscuit ransom is what I'll do, and I'll blackmail you into fixing my perfect smile."

Pansy glared and laughed at his antics. "That's an awful thing to do now give it back!" she complained, still giggling despite her need for her confectionary. Draco snorted and lifted the treat above his head.

Pansy, being the smart girl she was, stood up in the plush chair and reached her fingers across to pluck it from his grasp. Draco chuckled and shook his head, backing away from her reach. "Give it!" she complained, leaning forward still.

"You have to promise to fix my teeth," Draco laughed.

Pansy leant forward some more, her fingers just bushing against his hand. Draco twitched. Pansy began to wobble. Her eyes widened and her lips parted in horror as she began to topple forward.

She fell forward into Draco, knocking him to the ground, and using him as a cushion to soften her fall. Draco groaned from under her and she stared down sympathetically.

"I don't think I need the sugar to knock my teeth out. Not with you around."

"I'm glad I could be of service?" Pansy said with a cheeky smile.

And it was then that Draco did something he swore he would never do, but he couldn't help himself. Her sparking eyes, her smile, the way her cheeks were flushed and her hair tossled just right. He reached up ever so slightly and pressed his cool lips upon her warm ones. Pansy gasped at the contact and he used the opportunity to deepen the kiss. She closed her eyes in contentment and leaned into the kiss, her hands reaching up to secure themselves in his hair as he wrapped his own around her waist.

They didn't hear the portrait open, nor did they hear the startled gasp or the choked sob. The only thing they heard was the clatter of a thin silver ring rolling across the stone floor and the light ringing it caused as it hit the wall and clattered to a stop.

Pansy pulled herself away from Draco, half in shock at what she had done, and yet the energy between them preventing her from caring. She stared down at him, breathing heavily and ran a finger down his cheek. Pansy turned her head to see the glint of silver lying against the wall.

Her eyes widened, her guilt flared. Daphne couldn't have seen.. Could she? She crept over to the wall, her body filled with dread. She felt the presence of Draco behind her and held back her tears. She was so confused.

"Is that Daphne's ring?" Draco asked, coming around her to pick it up from the ground. He peered at the metal and twirled it around his pinkie as though in thought.

"I gave it her for her sixteenth birthday. It's a friendship ring."

Draco turned to stare at Pansy as her eyes lost their sparkle and the beautiful blue dulled. "I'm so sorry." Draco whispered, but Pansy just shook her head.

"It's over. I think… I don't think I can fix what I did this time Draco… I finally crossed the line."


End file.
